FROM THE time when Norwegian emigration began in earnest
during the 1840s until the outbreak of the First World War
more than 70,000 people from Agder crossed the ocean - the
vast majority to the United States. To put this figure in
perspective, the population of the two Agder counties (fylker)
numbered about 116,000 in 1845 and 158,000 in 1910. It is
thus plain that emigration made a great inroad into the population
of these two southernmost counties, but the strength of the
movement fluctuated greatly. If the two counties are compared
with the country as a whole, it becomes evident that it was
during the latter part of the Norwegian emigration movement
that Agder joined the exodus in earnest. To be sure, around
1850 there was considerable emigration from East Agder, but
after the middle 1850s this early movement stagnated entirely.
Only after 1880 did people from the Agder counties plunge
into the mass-emigration stream, but then they did so with
a vengeance. After 1890 no other counties showed as high a
percentage of emigrants as East and West Agder. During all
three of the periods covered in this study -1891-1900, 1901-1910,
and 1911-1915 - West Agder, followed by East Agder, "exported"
a larger proportion of its population than any other Norwegian
county

An important question therefore presents itself: why was
the emigrant stream from these southern areas held in abeyance
from the middle of the 1850s until about 1880? An answer to
this question will also explain why around 1880 the floodgates
were thrown open here as nowhere else in the country. Next
one may ask whether the outflow was uniform from all parts
of the district - and if not, why not? A great number of people
left, but a still greater number remained behind. What caused
one group to leave and another group to stay at home? And
finally, where did most of the emigrants from Agder find a
place for themselves in America?

The following table shows how many persons per 1000 median
population left Norway and the Agder districts annually during
the periods indicated:

1846-1855

1856-1865

1866-1875

1876-1890

1891-1900

1901-1910

1911-1915

Norway

2.3

2.5

6.8

7.9

4.5

8.2

3.6

East
Agder

4.4

0.4

2.3

6.8

8.8

14.9

6.2

West
Agder

1.2

0.4

2.3

8.0

11.4

16.6

8.0

EMIGRATION BEFORE 1890

Church records reveal that the first emigrants to leave Agder
came from the inland communities of Setesdal. It was also
from these same communities that the movement continued most
vigorously during the early years and on into the 1860s. Many
of these northern communities reached a population peak around
1850, and during the following decades people migrated southward
toward the coastal regions, where many found employment while
others continued onward to America. A few people from the
coastal areas also left during the earliest emigration wave,
but this proved to be a mere episode. About twenty-five years
ensued - until about 1880 -during which the church records
of the Agder coastal area list scarcely any emigrants.

No lengthy research is necessary to discover why the southern
coastal regions, during a quarter of a century, exerted a
greater pull than America. The explanation is found in the
sailing vessels which during the winters could be seen in
practically every little cove. The thirty-year period from
mid-century until about 1880 was a golden age for the southern
coastal towns.

As an example of how rapid the growth of the sailing fleet
was, one can take a look at the Grimstad toll district (the
parishes of Grimstad, Landvik, and Fjære). In 1849 the
district had a sailing fleet of about 9,300 register tons;
by 1860 the tonnage had just about trebled. By 1865 the district
could boast 112 ships even if vessels of less than 100 register
tons are disregarded. The ownership of this commercial fleet
was widely distributed, as practically all the companies were
small and most vessels were held in partnership. But business
was good. The companies earned money, and work was plentiful
for those who wanted to go to sea. By the end of the year
1880 the East Agder fleet alone employed more than 9,200 seamen.

This great commercial expansion exerted a strong ripple effect.
Many of the ships were built close to where the owners lived.
In the Grimstad toll district, for instance, vessels were
built in some forty different localities during the latter
half of the century. Some of these shipyards were short-lived
and, of course, most of them were small. They did, however,
furnish jobs for about 1,000 men, at a time when the three
parishes concerned had a population of only some 8,000.

The 1850s, then, were a golden age for large parts of the
southern coastal area. There can be no doubt that this explains
why there were so few emigrants from Agder at the time, because
the emigration figures shot upward as soon as the economic
foundations of the golden age began to be undermined. From
about 1880 machine-propelled iron vessels began competing
with the sail-driven wooden ships. Steamships were much more
costly to build or to buy than the traditional sailing ships.
Many small shipping companies did not have sufficient capital
for heavy investments; some of them united to form larger
concerns but others kept on with the old ways until they were
forced to give up. The fact that a fair number of shipping
companies clung to sailing ships was undoubtedly due to the
fact that they also owned the yards where the ships were built.
There they had a labor force for whom they felt responsible
and they had capital investments which they were reluctant
to write off. Still, at the end of 1880 the East Agder merchant
fleet employed 9,200 seamen; five years later the number had
sunk to 8,300.

The construction of an iron vessel requires a large shipbuilding
operation. This created difficulties for the many small shipyards,
which were forced either to restrict their operations or to
close entirely. In East Agder 162 ships were built during
the period 1876-1880, while only 93 were built between 1881
and 1885. It is obvious that a number of men would lose their
jobs as a result of the crisis in shipping and shipbuilding;
and with unemployment came pressure on wages with the result
that earnings declined even for those shipyard workers and
sailors who were fortunate enough to remain employed.

During the decade 1866-1875 an average of about 350 people
left Agder for America every year, while between 1876 and
1890 the annual average rose to more than 1,150. But the end
was not yet: during the 1890s the figure swelled to 1,625
and during the first decade of this century to no less than
2,525 per year. This period marked the climax. During the
five years from 1911 to 1915 the annual average fell to about
1,200 - roughly the same as between 1876 and 1890. After 1915
there were still a number of emigrants from Agder, but the
figures can in no way compare with those of the prewar period.
Economic conditions in America between the two world wars
were not encouraging and, furthermore, laws aiming to restrict
immigration were adopted in the United States. Nevertheless,
emigration from Agder has to a degree continued up to the
present time.

VOLUME AND CAUSES OF EMIGRATION FROM AGDER

The group of almost 50,000 people - or 47,511 to he exact
- who, according to official statistics, emigrated from Agder
between 1891 and 1915 will now be exa mined more closely.

Emigration from Agder,
1891-1915

Years

East Agder

West Agder

Agder

1891-1900

7,057

9,168

16,225

1901-1910

11,635

13,590

25,225

1911-1915

2,376

3,685

6,061

Totals

21,068

26,443

47,511

A calculation of how many people emigrated in proportion
to the population reveals that the number of emigrants between
1891 and 1900 equaled about 12 percent of the combined census
figures for East and West Agder in 1891. The corresponding
figure for the next decade, 1901-1910, was about 16 percent.
The number of emigrants between 1911 and 1915 ran to about
4 percent of the population in 1910, but it must be noted
that this figure covers only a five-year period. Obviously
the emigration movement from Agder was at its very strongest
during the years immediately after the turn of the century.
The peak was reached in 1906 when nearly 3,400 emigrants left
the district - no less than 2.1 percent of the total population
in a single year.

In order to get a clearer picture of the volume and nature
of the emigration movement from Agder, separate figures for
the various districts (fogderi) and towns within the two counties
will be listed in the following tables.

The tables take into consideration changes in boundaries
(i.e. town expansion). Hence the figures from the three periods
are not directly comparable.

One must bear in mind that the period 1911-1915 covers only
five years. Nevertheless, it is clear that emigration from
all the towns and districts listed was less intense during
these years than during the two preceding decades. Similarly
it is obvious that the period 1901-1910 yields the highest
figures for all parts of Agder. But when one compares the
various towns and districts under consideration, marked differences
become apparent. In East Agder, for instance, Setesdal had
heavy emigration during the first period with only a slight
increase during the second decade, and then a great drop during
the years immediately preceding the First World War. In the
neighboring district of Nedenes, emigration was much more
intense between 1901 and 1910.

From the parishes of Valle and Bygland, in upper Setesdal,
emigration actually began to decrease as early as 1890. In
these two parishes emigration reached its high point during
the 1880s. This can undoubtedly be explained by the fact that
it was just this part of Agder which had the highest percentage
of cotters, and it is apparent that in these communities emigration
helped solve a social problem. By the end of the century the
cotter class had practically disappeared; and with it disappeared
also one of the main motive forces behind the emigration movement.
In addition, more job opportunities opened up for those who
did not have a farm or had a farm too small to provide an
acceptable standard of living. In 1896 the Setesdal Railway
was completed from Kristiansand to Bygland, and during the
same year Bygland secured an agricultural school. Furthermore,
in 1898, a combined saw- and planing mill began operations
- also in Bygland. These developments, however, did not have
enough effect on the southern part of Setesdal to prevent
the district as a whole from having a slightly greater outflow
of emigrants during 1901-1910 than during the previous decade.

The district of Nedenes experienced a rapid growth of population
until about 1880 because of factors mentioned earlier. When
a struggle for the remaining jobs developed, emigration became
an escape hatch for many of the unemployed or underemployed.
The collapse of the shipbuilding industry became total after
the turn of the century and no new industries arose which
could absorb the discharged workers.

The towns of East Agder were affected a good deal more seriously
by the crisis in the sailing-ship traffic than were the surrounding
rural areas, since they were more deeply involved economically
with the imperiled industry than were the country districts.
In the rural communities agriculture could, at least for a
while, provide employment for some of those who lost their
shipbuilding and seafaring jobs. This fact undoubtedly explains
why the rural areas did not register really high emigration
figures until after the turn of the century. By then it became
clear to people that they had to leave if they wished to maintain
their accustomed standard of living. Throughout this period
of crisis the chances of finding employment in the towns were
slight. As a consequence the emigration movement reached such
dimensions that with one exception (the town of Risør
between 1891 and 1900) the population of all the towns in
East Agder was reduced during the decades of 1891-1900 and
1901-1910. During the latter decade the population of Grimstad
- which was hardest hit - dropped from 3,000 to about 2,400.
More than 700 people left the town in that decade, a figure
which represents about 25 percent of the population in 1900.
From the larger city of Arendal, with a population of 11,000
or more in 1900, nearly 2,000 people emigrated during the
following ten years.

In West Agder there was a still higher degree of emigration.
Of the two districts within its bounds, Lister presents especially
high figures. The fact that the figures for the district of
Mandal are considerably lower can undoubtedly he explained
by the industrial developments in and around the city of Kristiansand.

Within the districts the intensity of emigration might vary
greatly from community to community, as in the case of Setesdal.
By looking more closely at the district of Lister during the
years 1901-1910 one discovers that the communities of Nes,
near Flekkefjord, and Herad, near Farsund, represent the two
extremes. During that decade the number of emigrants from
Nes equaled 9 percent of the total population in 1900, while
the corresponding figure for Herad was no less than 32 percent.
In most of the communities within the district the people
who left during the decade comprised more than 20 percent
of the census figure in 1900. The question arises: why was
it that this part of Agder experienced such a high degree
of emigration? The explanation is no doubt found primarily
in the small farms of these communities which could barely
support a family and certainly could not provide any employment
for others. This part of Norway had, relatively speaking,
the smallest number of cotters in the whole country; but,
at the same time, there were very few large farms. Therefore,
to a greater degree than in other parts of the country, the
inhabitants of these communities all had the same problems
to wrestle with in order to make a living. When supplemental
earnings, which the farm families depended on in part, were
cut from under them, the people of these communities were
harder struck than elsewhere.

During the latter half of the nineteenth century it was very
common for teen-age boys to go to sea. In some communities
it was practically unheard of that a twenty-year-old had not
had this experience. A study of the census lists for 1865
from a typical coastal community like Spind, near Farsund,
reveals that no less than 90 percent of the nineteen-year-olds
who had not yet left their homes had been at sea. Every spring,
whole groups of men who wanted to go to sea trekked toward
the Arendal-Grimstad area to get berths. In this part of Agder
the coastal traffic which previously had provided a living
for so many men was given its death blow around 1850 when
a number of steamships began to ply regular routes along the
coast and quickly won out over the small sailing vessels.
The fleet of large sailing vessels, however, grew rapidly
during the years after 1850, especially in East Agder. Hence
it was comparatively easy for a man to secure a berth without
going too far afield. But when problems arose also for the
larger sailing vessels, then the livelihood of practically
every young man in Spind was endangered - and the same was
presumably true in the neighboring communities.

When considered as a group, the towns of West Agder consistently
registered lower emigration figures than the towns in East
Agder. This comes from the fact that one of the towns in the
western county - Kristiansand - developed along different
lines than did the other towns in that part of the country.
Kristiansand had a population about twice as large as the
three other towns in the county - Mandal, Farsund, and Flekkefjord
- combined. The number of emigrants from Kristiansand during
the decade 1901-1910 equaled 12 percent of the town population
in 1910. To be sure, population developments in Flekkefjord
were similar to those in Kristiansand, as the number of inhabitants
there increased steadily during the years 1891-1910.

One may ask: "What caused the rapid growth of two urban centers
in West Agder while the two other towns declined drastically?"
The answer is that Kristiansand and Flekkefjord benefited
from the new industrial growth which at the time was spreading
over Norway. The consequent job openings offered the youth
then coming of age an alternative to emigration. This held
true not only for the two towns concerned but also for the
nearby rural areas.. The community of Nes near Flekkefjord,
as noted earlier, had the lowest rate of emigration from the
Lister district during the decade 1901-1910. Around the turn
of the century several new industries were established in
Flekkefjord. Among them can be mentioned a woolen mill, a
flour mill, and a furniture factory. Furthermore, in 1904
the railroad line was extended to Flekkefjord. During the
decade 1891-1900 the population of the town increased by more
than 30 percent; and the growth continued into the new century,
though at a slower rate. Despite these new opportunities,
many of the rural young people who had moved to town decided
after a while to leave for America, as the high emigration
figures for Flekkefjord would indicate.

But the largest town in Agder - Kristiansand - was in much
better condition to keep a firm grip on its inhabitants. It
had a varied economic system by the end of the 1800s and was
far less dependent on the sailing ship industry than the other
towns in the region. During the years immediately after the
turn of the century several large manufacturing plants grew
up in Kristiansand, among them an aluminum factory, a ferroalloy
refinery, and a nickelworks. Concerns such as Fiskaa Verk
and Falconbridge nickelworks still play fundamental roles
in the industrial life of the city. This was the only urban
area in the Agder district where large-scale industry developed
prior to the First World War.

The two main forces behind the European emigration movements
were undoubtedly the desire for a better livelihood and the
desire to escape from the social pattern of the home area.
If one then asks, what was the main motive which caused people
from Agder to leave during the years around the turn of the
century, there can be no doubt about the answer. The mass
migration out of Agder was no flight from social oppression
but was inspired by a search for a higher standard of living
than could be found at home. From upper Setesdal - where the
cotter system had been common - emigration was on the decline
after 1890 and practically non-existent by the end of the
period studied. That part of Norway where social equality
was most marked - the Lister district - had the highest rate
of emigration. A study of various rural communities and towns
presents the same picture: where employment was available,
emigration was light as compared with areas where no new industries
sprang up.

During the five-year period 1911-1915 there was a great drop
in the emigration figures. This may have been caused partly
by the outbreak of the First World War in the summer of 1914.
After that, people might naturally think twice before setting
out on the Atlantic. But the war does not completely explain
the decline. As already emphasized, it was the hope of improving
their economic condition which was decisive for the vast majority
of those who chose to emigrate. After 1910 it was not as evident
as it had been some years earlier that opportunities were
so much greater in America. For one thing, a recession had
begun in America a few years earlier. Furthermore, there had
been a great thinning of the ranks of the young and able-bodied
in Norway during the previous decades. As a consequence there
were better chances for those who remained at home and for
the rising generation even in regions where employment possibilities
had not substantially improved. It can be argued that large
sections of Agder would have been depopulated if emigration
had continued for long at the same level as before 1910. The
tendency was clear: it was especially the young people who
emigrated. In a town like Farsund, with a population of about
1,500 in 1910, only twenty couples were married between 1911
and 1915. Economic conditions in Agder were bad but not so
miserable that the district had to be completely depopulated.

REMIGRATION

Statistics can be misleading. This is true of the emigration
statistics for Agder. A main feature of the population figures
for the region as a whole is that they remain practically
static between 1890 and 1910. But if one compares the two
counties one finds that there was a population decline in
East Agder while there was an increase in West Agder.

Population figures for Agder, 1891-1910

Year

East Agder

West Agder

Agder

1891

81,043

78,738

159,781

1900

79,935

81,567

161,502

1910

76,456

82,067

158,523

Below are figures for the surplus of births over deaths,
emigration, and growth or decline of population in the two
Agder counties from 1891 to 1910.

East Agder

Decades

Natural increase

Emigration

Population change

1891-1900

8,550

7,057

-1,108

1901-1910

7,639

11,635

-3,479

West Agder

Decades

Natural increase

Emigration

Population change

1891-1900

7,930

9,168

+2,829

1901-1910

7,447

13,590

+ 500

These figures reveal the paradoxical situation that East
Agder had both a larger natural increase and less emigration
than West Agder; still it was in East Agder that the population
declined while it increased in West Agder. Was the influx
of people from other parts of Norway so much greater in West
Agder than in the neighboring county? It is difficult to secure
reliable figures for migrations within the country, but it
can be definitely asserted that they by no means equaled the
figures for emigration. Agder was not a part of Norway which
exerted any great pull during the period studied - this is
proved by the contemporary mass exodus to America - so one
may reasonably conclude that the district was a net loser
in the migration exchange with other Norwegian communities.

The factor which intrudes and blurs the picture rendered
by the emigration statistics is the matter of remigration.
The census of 1910 was supposed to note those who were Norwegian
Americans. But this was a rather vague concept: a person who
had been in America some ten or twelve years previously would
most likely not indicate this on the census list. As a consequence,
the figures thus secured would be much too low. Nevertheless,
the census shows about 3,000 people in Agder in this category:
and of these, the great majority - almost 2,400 - lived in
West Agder. A not inconsiderable number of emigrants had thus
been in America for a while only to return to Norway. But
frequently they changed their minds and set off again. Some
of them became real birds of passage who remained only a year
or two on either side of the Atlantic. It was especially in
West Agder that this traffic took place; as a result the emigration
figures for this county are too high, though how much too
high is difficult to say. But it is reasonable to assume that
the actual loss of population through emigration from West
Agder did not much exceed that from East Agder.

THOSE WHO LEFT - THOSE WHO REMAINED

The emigration movement divided numerous families. Among
some groups of siblings, the majority left while among others
the majority chose to remain in Norway. In certain families
all the siblings emigrated while in other families all of
them remained behind. But these two extremes were exceptions.
A concrete example of what could happen in this respect involves
the families of a couple who shortly before 1910 settled on
a farm at Sævik in Spind. The husband, Severin, was
born in Herad, and the wife, Tea, grew up in Sævik.
Herad and Spind were numbered among the communities which
had the very heaviest emigration. Both Tea and Severin had
been in America before they settled on their farm. In fact,
they were married in America in 1907. Severin was born in
1882 as the second child in a group of twelve siblings, eleven
of whom reached adulthood. Tea was born in 1884 - the youngest
in a family of six. Only three of these seventeen siblings
never set foot on American soil, and one of the three died
at the age of seventeen. That left two girls who reached adulthood
and did not go to America; but even they left their home communities
and moved to eastern Norway.

Most of the fourteen who went to America came back to Norway
one or more times. Some of them returned to settle in the
land of their birth, then visited America on occasion. Six
of the fourteen remained in America permanently. Of those
who married, a majority of them did so in America. Among the
varied ethnic groups they encountered in America, the emigrants
usually sought out people of their home community and maintained
contact with them. Apparently it was not difficult in America
to get in touch with friends or relatives from Norway if one
so desired.

Whether or not to leave for America was a decision that each
individual had to make for himself. What was the pull which
induced some to leave, while others remained in Norway? And
what caused some of the emigrants to retrace their steps,
while others chose to remain in America?

In this connection it may be sufficient to consider two factors
which might determine a person's future. One of these would
plainly be economic. In America they would have a better chance
to earn money than in Norway. They could no doubt secure a
livelihood at home, but in America they might possibly become
rich. This was a great attraction. But then there were the
bonds which held a person to the old community: the childhood
home, relatives and friends, the neighborhood with its many
memories. A sensitive person found it difficult to tear himself
away from his past. Whichever of these two factors proved
the more powerful would often decide where an individual would
spend the rest of his life. The two forces might vary in strength
from time to time. If conditions were especially difficult
at home or especially promising in America, then the voices
of longing might be silenced. Or if many relatives and friends
had already crossed the Atlantic before him, then it would
be easier for a person to leave the old home place. It is,
of course, plain that people of differing temperaments would
be affected differently by these two forces.

Those who had got into awkward situations at home would likely
welcome a chance to get a new start in life where nobody knew
them. Those who were primarily interested in economic success
probably did not feel the pull of home quite so strongly.
But then there were others who were never free of their longings.
A man of that sort could write home to parents in reply to
assurances that they were not about to sell the farm: ". .
. that cheered me greatly because it is so sad to think that
I might never again roam about among the familiar mountains
of home; and Lars [a brother] says that the farm will never
be sold. . ." As if to underscore the seriousness of what
he wrote, he went on: "Lars and I will send some money so
you can hire help and not wear yourselves out. And one of
us will undoubtedly return home after a while to help you."

In the great majority of America letters one finds expressions
of longing and nostalgia coupled with accounts of how well-off
the writers are in a material sense. One man who did especially
well in America described in letter after letter to Norway
the affluent life he was leading. But still he carried a pain
in his heart - he had forsaken his parents whom he ought to
have helped: "I feel sad many a time for having gone away
from father and mother whose burdens I could have lightened."
He wrote this to a younger brother whom he asked not to leave
home because then the old folk would be left entirely without
help.

This tug-of-war in the human heart between longing for home
and the urge to go where there are greater chances for advancement
is an ever-present phenomenon; but it became especially marked
in connection with the overseas migration because of the vast
distances involved. There the conflict caused some people
to shuttle continually between the old home and the new until
they virtually became homeless no matter where they happened
to be. Up until the present generation a fair number of such
people were found in Agder - indeed, a few of them can still
be met there.

For those who entered into marriage, the bonds with the home
community were weakened; and those who married non-Norwegians
very seldom returned to Norway. On the other hand, if the
spouse also came from the home community then chances were
greater that their new home would be in Norway - and Agder.

Around the turn of the century, one alternative for those
who wanted to get ahead was to go to America. Another was
to go to school and prepare oneself for a profession. But
for most of the young people, this was out of the question.
Common people could not afford a higher education. Only those
who were blest with unusual determination managed to fight
their way through along this line, and they usually remained
in Norway. Generally they were of an idealistic bent and became
leaders in the church, young people's organizations, temperance
movements, and similar causes.

The statement is often made that it was the most gifted and
capable people - the "cream," so to speak - who went to America
and remained there. This contention may very well be questioned.
Those who were strongly inclined toward gaining material wealth
and who were most successful in this endeavor usually remained
in America - and the same was true of those who were total
failures. In addition there were, of course, those who stayed
more or less by chance. On the other hand, those who had the
greatest ability and a desire to use it toward securing an
education often stayed in Norway. And those who had the greatest
love for the home community either remained at home or returned
after having been in America. The claim that it was a superior
part of the population which emigrated is therefore highly
debatable.

WHERE DID THEY FIND A PLACE FOR THEMSELVES
IN AMERICA?

A great majority of the early emigrants from Norway settled
down as farmers in America. Until about the turn of the century,
free land was still available there - areas which had not
yet been bought or otherwise acquired by people of European
stock. The first emigrants from Agder were also in search
of land, and this remained true of many newcomers as long
as homesteads could be claimed. During the years between 1890
and 1915 a considerable group of emigrants from various Agder
communities also went on to rural districts of Canada where
large areas had been opened up for homesteading. There are
indications that a considerable number of people from Agder,
around the turn of the century, settled just along the boundary
line between the United States and Canada. For instance, a
little Søgne colony grew up near the border town of
Antler in North Dakota. The founder of this colony was an
emigrant from the community of Søgne who had settled
near Antler. He returned to Norway for a visit in 1906 and
must have spoken eloquently of his new home area and its many
opportunities because he induced a whole group of young people
from Søgne to settle in that neighborhood. By reading
a number of America letters from this period one gets the
impression that land could be obtained rather easily in these
border regions up to the beginning of the First World War.

During the years 1890-1915, however, it was not mainly land
hunger which inspired people from Agder to leave for America.
The many urban emigrants were not interested in shifting to
farming - a type of work they were unfamiliar with and which
they had a tendency to look down on. Many of the America letters
during these years, moreover, do not speak in particularly
glowing terms about farming conditions. In 1907, for instance,
a farmer wrote: "It is a shame that there is so little income
from landowning in this country." He considered that he had
a rather large farm but still he had to work like a slave
to keep his head above water. This man was unmarried and consequently
did not have a family to help him with the farm work. Still,
it is clear that letters like these would not encourage prospective
emigrants to take up farming in America. In 1920 a woman who
had spent a long time visiting relatives and friends in the
United States and had been in the Dakotas for six months wrote
as follows about rural conditions there: "Practically everyone
I talked with wanted to get away; but where would the money
come from? Against their will they had to remain there with
their despondency." From the Dakotas she went to the West
Coast and these were her impressions: "To get away from the
yellow, barren, desolate prairie to this sunny, beautiful
landscape is like entering directly into heaven!" It is quite
clear that most of the people from Agder shared this view.
It was not the prairie which attracted them.

Very few of the emigrants had learned any special trade before
they left. They could hardly expect to become anything but
common laborers. Many of them came from rural communities
and preferred country life in America also, but this did not
make it necessary for them to engage in farm work. A good
many of the men from Agder who emigrated between 1890 and
1915 earned their livelihood in the forests. There is much
evidence of this in America letters, emigration protocols,
and accounts by people who returned home. Work in the logging
camps could be backbreaking and the camps were usually located
in outlying places, far from the centers of civilization.
And it might happen that in such a camp there would be but
one lone Norwegian. More generally, however, Norwegians found
work together with others of their countrymen - preferably
those from their own home community.

A majority of the people in Agder live along the coast. It
was natural, therefore, that many of those who emigrated found
work related to the sea. Some became fishermen - especially
on the West Coast - while a much larger number shipped as
seamen. "To sail on the [Great] Lakes" became an expression
with its own meaning. There were also many who found work
on tugboats and barges.

For those who preferred to stay on land there were opportunities
for jobs in factories; but the most common occupation was
in construction, ranging all the way from farmhouses to city
skyscrapers. After the First World War carpenters probably
represent the largest occupational group to leave Agder for
America.

It must have been a difficult transition, indeed, for emigrants
to be transplanted from a small, familiar community in Norway
to the teeming life of a large factory in America. Here they
were thrown into a far more complex and highly organized life
than they were accustomed to. Not only did they encounter
new technology but frequently also different patterns of relationships
between the workers than they had experienced in the rural
communities or small towns of Norway. Labor unions, strikes,
and lockouts were phenomena quite new to most of them. Here
is part of a letter dated Seattle, July 5, 1907: "I work on
a building. I help the masons. We have gotten a small pay
raise. We get $3.50 per day from the first of July. I have
joined a labor union so I do not need to argue about the pay.
We do not work more than five and a half days during the week."
This was dangerous work. As he wrote, "A man was killed here
today" - a circumstance which explains why he was paid comparatively
well and why it was easy for newcomers to get this type of
employment.

This same letter-writer had several siblings in America.
In a letter from his brother one detects an element of class
consciousness which must have been something new for people
who had grown up in thinly settled neighborhoods in Agder:
"It is now a long time since I came down from the woods. I
now work in Seattle. I am laying sidewalk on the street, which
is not easy work, but as long as a person is to work as a
common laborer he will have to be satisfied with many things.
The capitalists know how to drive their slaves, for certain."
Thus he wrote in 1906. In a letter of 1907 he wrote that he
occupied a tent, and in 1908 his sister wrote home that he
lived together with another man in a little hut "which looks
something like a bath house." There is no doubt that these
immigrant laborers lived in miserable conditions, but as long
as they had jobs they were quite well paid. And they had something
in reserve which saved the great majority of them from sinking
into despair: they had a home in Norway.

The emigrants from Agder who engaged in agricultural work
and those who became lumberjacks naturally had to remain in
country districts. But those who became construction workers
or had other types of industrial jobs lived in cities. Though
not quite as many young women as young men chose to leave
Agder for America, a majority of those who did went to the
cities, where they secured positions as servant maids with
urban families.

The jobs which newcomers obtained in America were usually
quite insecure. This was especially true of men and most particularly
of the so-called "birds of passage." During times of recession,
for example, construction projects were the hardest hit. During
good times, on the other hand, wages in this branch were higher
than in other kinds of industry. There were two main reasons
why these newcomers so often got rather insecure employment.
In the first place, they were unskilled laborers and usually
had difficulties with the language, which limited their job
opportunities largely to rough manual labor. And secondly,
if they were laid off and were unable to obtain other work,
they could always return to Norway. Those who did get a good
steady job which they could not hope to regain if they went
home for a longer visit usually struck roots in America. But
those who definitely did not aim to remain did not seek employment
of this kind.

Thus, emigrants from Agder around the turn of the century
gravitated largely toward urban centers in America. There
were sections of New York where people from Agder formed the
largest single ethnic group. Chicago, in the Midwest, and
Seattle, on the Pacific coast, were well known in Agder. Many
people in the district had relatives and friends there, and
in other large and small cities.

It is obvious that young people who earlier had not been
farther from home than the nearest Norwegian coastal town
would be greatly impressed when they suddenly found themselves
in a swarming American city. In 1908 a young girl left for
Seattle from a little upland community in Agder. Five months
after her arrival she wrote: "Downtown is what we call the
area where all the business places are located. No people
live there; they live around about in the hills. Yes, I must
say that Seattle is both big and strange. It stretches out
for miles. I have no idea how large it is, and many large
lakes and parks lie within the city. Directly above where
I live is the largest park [the zoo]; it is much larger than
the whole farm at home and there are many wild animals in
it. I do not know how many parks there are here; I have been
in five but there are many more." One might expect that she
would be unhappy in Seattle and feel like a stranger, but
that was by no means the case: "I like America exceptionally
well. I could never have thought that I would feel so well
satisfied here." Her letter also reveals one very important
reason why she was so happy in her new surroundings: she had
several relatives and many other acquaintances to associate
with, though it does not appear that she mingled much with
Americans. There is every reason to believe that the emotions
felt by this girl were typical of the reactions experienced
by the young people who went across at that time. They got
along well because they did not sever all connections with
the world in which they had grown up. Even if their new circumstances
were very much less limited than they had been accustomed
to, they created, together with acquaintances from home, their
own little world. If they found themselves a spouse in this
little circle, it usually did not take long before they returned
to Norway.

SUMMARY

The great majority of emigrants from Agder to America left
during the twenty-five-year period studied here. The mass
migration from Agder was related only in a minor degree to
social problems of a structural nature, since such problems
were practically non-existent in the district. Even those
parts of Agder which had a comparatively large cotter class
- Setesdal especially - sent only a small fraction of their
population across the Atlantic after 1890. In other parts
of Norway emigration had offered an attractive alternative
for cotters and younger sons, who by emigrating might achieve
the same status and privileges as those enjoyed by the landowners
- the upper class in the Norwegian rural communities.

It was a crisis in one of the most important industries of
the district which unleashed the mass migration from Agder.
The building and use of sailing ships entered a boom period
about the middle of the century, providing jobs for an ever-increasing
labor force. This expansion was especially marked in East
Agder, and as a consequence it also attracted a certain number
of young people from the sister county. But around 1880 all
activities connected with the sailing ships entered a period
of severe crisis. In their search for a new livelihood, masses
of the people who were thrown out of work left the country.
Both East and West Agder experienced an intensity of emigration
unmatched by any other part of Norway. A difference can be
observed between the migration movements from the two counties,
however, inasmuch as the exodus from West Agder showed a stronger
element of pure job-hunting. In the same manner as young people
from the western county formerly poured to Grimstad or Arendal
in search of work, they now went to America. Many of them
had not actually planned to emigrate, even though this frequently
turned out to be their fate.

The great migration from this district is of comparatively
recent date. Most people in Agder therefore have close relatives
in America. These bonds of relationship across the Atlantic
have established firm contacts between this part of Norway
and America. This circumstance, coupled with the fact that
so many people living in Agder have spent time in America,
explains why no other part of Norway has received so strong
an American impress as these two counties. This can be seen
in clothing, in language, and even in given names. Now, however,
American influence is in rapid decline, and the emigration
from Agder is becoming a part of history.